The Unraveling of History Part 1
by Jaimee2014
Summary: The first half of story 5 in The Adventures with the Doctor series. The work of a mysterious time traveller has torn a hole through the fabric of time and space threatening Earth's history and future. At the same time, Nicole discovers a secret that the Doctor has kept from her since their meeting in an alleyway which threatens her life.
1. Prologue

**Sometime between 27-33 AD**

A traveling caravan carrying spices, silks, and various other items from Egypt were travelling along the Great Trunk Road to Jerusalem in Judea. Once the Egyptians left the city of Jamnia, they diverted from the road and traveled through the Judean wilderness to Jerusalem. About ten kilometres from Jerusalem, one of the Egyptians noticed a light ahead that was not there in their previous journeys. "Halt!" The men stopped the camels and donkeys and looked to the man in charge for further direction. "There is something that is blazing with light. Let's go see what it is. Be careful, it may be dangerous." The four men crept forward with spears in their hands to the bright light. The men stopped in their tracks stunned at the sight they saw. "What kind of trickery is this? A hole has appeared in the ground and this mysterious light seems to originate from the hole. This must be the work of Ra."

Then, the light grew in intensity and a whirring sound emitted from the hole. The Egyptians shielded their eyes from the brightness, but through the light they could see shadows appearing too many to count. As the light dimmed, the Egyptians could make out light yellow, dark brown, orange, and dark red coats. They heard murmuring among the strange men and recognized the language. "It's the Germanics! The barbarians from Germania!" The four men raised their spears to the army of men. Once the army of men recovered from their disorientation, they noticed the caravan with four men pointing spears at them while walking around in a circle. All the men took out their muskets, armed their guns, and pointed it towards the Egyptians.

"What is going on?" shouted a man with an authoritative voice who pushed through the ranks of his men.

"Fuhrer, we seem to have arrived in a foreign land and these men were about to attack us with spears." The Fuhrer turned towards the men who still had their spears pointed towards them.

He addressed them, "Who are you?" The men jabbered amongst themselves while casting furtive glances at the Germans. The Fuhrer questioned his men, "Does anyone understand their language?"

A distant voice called out, "I can help you, Fuhrer." The Egyptians moved aside as a mysterious figure dressed in a white toga, and a brown cloak with a hood that covered his head approached the Germans. As he stood before the Fuhrer, he put down his hood revealing a face that was pale white with bright green eyes and short black hair.

The Fuhrer asked, "We have received your calling card. Who are you?"

"My name is Dominus Furioso. I am a man of learning and I know the languages and cultures of this era you have arrived in. I will be of great assistance to help you conquer this land which is under Roman rule."

"How do we know if we can trust you and how did we get here?"

"You don't. The Egyptians are travelling to Jerusalem so you can get into the city pretending to be merchants selling valuables from another country. As to your other question, you travelled back in time through that hole in the sand." As everyone looked towards the hole, they only saw sand.

"The hole seems to have disappeared. Never mind that! Since we cannot conquer the world in our time period, we shall do so here by taking over Jerusalem!" exclaimed the Fuhrer with a glint in his eyes. The Fuhrer took the Egyptians as hostages and made them take him, his men, and Dominus to Jerusalem in order to conquer the Roman Empire.


	2. The Case

**Present Day (October 2015)**

Nicole's assignment as a detective was to help track down a man who snuck over the border to Canada. As a result, the FBI requested her help to capture a man in his thirties who has been kidnapping and killing children. They were working together for a month and during that time, they lost a few children. Nicole was working at her desk with a pile of files on Charles Finnegan, the man they were trying to track down, to look for any clues that the FBI may have missed. After an hour of looking through the files, she walked out of her office and looked up at the bulletin board where Ryan, a Caucasian male with a slim build and straight brown hair that just reached the collar of his shirt, was tying a string to all the locations where Charles has kidnapped and killed a child. Nicole sighed in frustration and rubbed her hands up and down her face in an effort to stay awake.

Ryan turned around. "Let's take a fifteen minute break. It seems the work is getting to both of us." After arriving to the break room, Nicole got a glass of water while Ryan made some coffee. "What about this case makes you frustrated?"

"That we can't do anything until he kidnaps another child. We only have a limited time frame to find the child alive."

"That is one of the difficulties of doing this job," said Ryan just as the phone on my desk rang. Nicole jogged down the hall to answer it.

The secretary, from a couple floors down, stated, "Detective Hughes, I received news from the 911 operator that an 8-year-old boy named Danny Streak was reported missing a couple of minutes ago. The details are being sent to your computer as we speak."

"Thank you Karen." She hung up the phone and accessed her e-mail just as Jess, a Caucasian female with long blonde hair, and Dom, a bald-headed male with a light brown complexion, walked in through the door with a few takeout bags from Wendy's for lunch. "Hi Dom and Jess! Looks like we will be taking our lunch on the road. I received a call that an 8-year-old boy named Danny Streak is missing. He was last seen at High Park Zoo located at 1873 Bloor Street West. The mother turned away for one minute to talk to a friend and when she turned her attention back to her son who was petting the llamas, he was not there. Danny has red curly hair with freckles on his face and was last seen wearing a Spiderman t-shirt with a black jacket and blue jeans."

"Okay. Jess and I will head down to High Park Zoo while you and Ryan stay here just in case you hear any more news."

Nicole turned to Ryan. "Let's see what we have on the case."

"Alright. Let's get to it." They walked back into the board room and sat down at a table in front of the bulletin board.

Ryan stated, "So far we know that Charles takes the children in crowded areas such as malls, zoos, and parks. He has the children for about 48 hours before he shoots them in the head. He covers the body with a blanket which signifies remorse and lays them out in a park or forest area."

"Okay. So, Charles is following his pattern by kidnapping a child in a public area which in this case is the High Park Zoo. If he keeps following the same pattern, we will find the boy in either a park or a forest like setting which we don't want. The question is what does he do between kidnapping and killing the child?" We sat for a couple of minutes deep in thought when an idea occurred. "Are there reports of any missing cars? If I were him, I would lure the child to come with me and take the child to a car in an alley where I would knock the child unconscious, gagged him, tie his hands behind his back, and put him in the trunk of a car to reduce being seen in public."

"Do you have a secret life you are not telling me about?" smiled Ryan.

"No," Nicole said laughing, "in order for me to understand the behaviour of other people, I need to get into their minds."

"That is how our unit works. To answer your question, no cars have been reported missing from the area. He may have stolen a car from another area so we are looking at all reports of missing vehicles. He may have lured the child to go with him where he takes the child into a vehicle. Once Charles is near his hideout, he takes the unconscious child out of the trunk, abandons the vehicle, and takes the child to his lair. Once he has killed the child, he must have carried him to a place not too far from his hideout."

Nicole leapt out of her seat and went to a shelf to pull out a map of Toronto. She unrolled the map on the table they were working on. "If Charles follows the same routine, we need to find a forest like setting where the chances of finding him will be very slim." They looked at the map for a few seconds until Ryan pointed to Rouge Park.

"What about this area?"

"That would be a great place to cover a murder. Rouge Valley covers about 50 kilometres. We better call Dom and Jess and get as many police units to help us search for Danny. We have a lot of ground to cover."


	3. War

A few hours went by as Nicole gathered all the available police forces and other help she could get. After placing everyone in groups and setting up points of entry in the valley, they started the search for Danny. They spent the whole night searching and as the sun rose, an officer's voice crackled over the radio, "I see a man that fits our description entering a cave."

Nicole answered, "Do nothing until the FBI arrives. Dispatch, what is his location to where I am?"

"He is about 10 km due south. I will put his transponder signal on your GPS."

"Thank you, and everybody must not go within 50 feet of the cave. We don't want our presence known." About an hour and a half later, Nicole arrived at the cave with Ryan. About fifteen minutes later, Dom and Jess showed up.

Dom gathered the four of them together. "When we go into the cave, the child is our top priority. We will try to talk Charles down, but if we can't we will move to our last resort. We have police officers covering all the exits to the cave just in case Charles escapes. Let's go rescue this kid." Nicole led the way into the cave and found two paths. Dom whispered, "Jess and I will go to the left while you two go straight ahead. If you find the boy, let us know by intercom and we will provide backup."

They walked in separate directions with guns drawn and flashlights on hoping to find the boy in time. As Nicole and Ryan went through the cavern, they maneuvered around stalagmites and stalactites. Along the side pools of water glistened in the light from their flashlights. They walked for about ten minutes when Nicole stopped Ryan. They shone their flashlights over the chasm and could see murky water below. "Looks like we cannot go any further," Nicole said to Ryan.

"There's a path continuing to the other side. We can access it by jumping down to the plateau."

"Why not?"

"I'll go first," said Ryan. He stood there for a minute.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I am just calculating the velocity and force I would need to jump from here to the plateau."

"I don't know how you would do that," she said perplexed just as he jumped down to the small ledge jutting out of the wall.

"It's not that big of a jump. You can do it."

"Right," Nicole said while she looked over the edge.

"It's not that scary. Facing a serial killer is more nerve whacking than this. Think of the boy."

"Right, the more time we waste here, the less time we'll have in rescuing Danny." Nicole took a deep breath and jumped down onto the ledge.

"See, it wasn't that bad," said Ryan with a smile, "Let's go!" They walked as fast as they could on the narrow pathway while being careful not to slip and fall down into the abyss.

When they walked away from the chasm, the cave's ceiling narrowed and we started crawling. "This is a long and arduous trek." stated Ryan as he slowed down his crawl.

"Shush. I think I hear something," Nicole whispered back to him. They stopped and listened for a moment. In the distance, a boy was crying. "The boy is still alive, and the path is widening." Nicole whispered into the mike, "Dom and Jess, we can hear the boy up ahead. What is your status?"

"We have a visual on Charles and Danny. Danny is bound and gagged sitting right next to Charles who is whittling away at something with a pocket knife," stated Jess.

"Okay, do you see any other weapons?"

"Not that we can see. He is facing away from us and we cannot go in since we have 3/4s of a wall in front of us. If you and Ryan can distract Charles, we can climb over this wall and help rescue Danny."

"Okay, we will be there in a minute." Ryan and Nicole stood up once the ceiling rose and walked towards the entrance to the room. Before they walked in, Nicole put her gun away.

"What are you doing?" whispered Ryan.

"I hate using guns and besides Charles is a human being. There must be a way I can connect to him on some level. If I find the connection, it reduces the chances of Danny being killed. Just have my back in case things go the other way," Nicole whispered back while preparing to enter the room. She was about to walk into the room when Danny looked up and saw them. His face broke into a huge grin despite the gag in his mouth. Nicole put a finger to her lips signalling Danny to remain quiet.

She entered the room with her hands up and said in a surprisingly calm tone, "Hi Charles. My name is Nicole, and this is Ryan…" Before she could continue talking, Charles pulled Danny up and put a gun against the boy's head.

He yelled, "Don't come any closer or this boy dies!"

"Okay. Ryan and I will take a step back. Is that okay with you?" Charles nodded his head as he stood there trembling. "I can see you are nervous. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I want to be alone with none of your types around. Everything was fine until you showed up."

"Okay. We will work on that. In the meantime why don't you tell me why we are all here today?"

"You won't understand. Nobody has ever listened to me before."

"Try me. There is a first time for everything."

"It is like I am at war with myself. I do not want to kill these children, but I am overwhelmed by a desire to do so. I feel terrible afterwards for what I do to them. Nobody can understand the struggle I am going through. I am a monster! Just leave me alone!" stated Charles in frustration as he tightened his grip on the gun while Danny shook in fear.

"Okay. I know it is hard to believe, but I understand what you are going through."

"Really? You have killed people before?"

"No, but I know what it is like to be at war with yourself. A lot of people experience this as well in some form or another. Where we are fighting different desires within us. Just know you are not alone in struggling with this."

"How were you at war with yourself?"

"When wanting to change the way I think, but it was easy to slip into my old way of thinking. Or when doing the right thing is a lot more difficult than doing something wrong. Many people struggle with changing their way of thinking or their behaviour. From what you have told me so far, you feel regret for what you have done."

"I do. I cannot change on my own."

"Sometimes it takes a person to offer you support to take the first step," Nicole stated as she reached out her hand towards him, "It is never too late to start anew in order to take the first step in the right direction." Charles hesitated not knowing what to do. It seemed like an eternity passed before he handed over the gun. "Thank you. You made the right choice. We will make sure you will find the help you need," Nicole stated as Dom put handcuffs on him. Then Dom and Ryan walked Charles out of the cave while reading his rights. Jess went over to Danny who was crying. While putting the gun in the evidence bag, Nicole felt a tug at the bottom of her shirt. She turned around and saw Danny with a tear streaked face who gave her a hug. She hugged him back and said, "You're safe now. No one will hurt you. Jess and I will take you back to your parents."

Later on that evening after reuniting Danny with his family, Nicole returned to the office to fill out the paperwork in order to close the case. After working on the paperwork for an hour, her phone rang. "There is a man who wants to see you."

"Let him know I will be there in a minute."

After Nicole's supervisor debriefed her, she looked at her calendar and found that her reading week for the college program she was taking on the side coincided with her week off at work. She called her parents to let them know she could visit them and that she was able to celebrate her father's birthday. She ended the call. "Oh, shoot. There's a visitor waiting for me." She opened her door just as the door at the end of the hallway slammed shut. Curious, she went back to her office window to see who the mystery man was. Looking out into the night, she saw a glimpse of a brown trench coat disappearing into an alley. "I wonder what he wanted," she muttered to herself.

Nicole left the office and walked to her car parked by an alleyway. A familiar sound filled the air reminding her of adventures this past summer. She ducked into the alleyway but nothing was there except a breeze that came out of nowhere swirling the leaves around in a tornado-like fashion. She sighed in disappointment. It seems her imagination was overworking again. She drove to her parents' house needing a much needed break from everything especially since she was hearing things that weren't there.


	4. Havoc Within Time and Space

**Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile. I have been busy with work and writing a novel. Hope you enjoy this chapter. For those who have been reading the previous stories, this story will start connecting the clues I left in the previous stories. **

The next morning, Nicole jerked awake from a nightmare of dead children from the case she just wrapped up. She headed to the washroom and splashed some water onto her face trying to still her racing heart. "I need to get out of here." She walked up the stairs where she came across her mother who just came into the door from an overnight shift at a hospital.

"Nicole, what are you doing up so early? It's 7:30."

Nicole shrugged her shoulders. "I'm an early riser." She gave her mother a hug. "How was work?"

"It was a busy night. Can't believe the last time I saw you was the day you returned to us at Nana and Papa's."

"Mary and I travelled to Venice in 1866. We had a great time, and it was a nice break from being attacked by aliens and monsters. Although we almost got killed in the war between Austria and Italy. They were fighting over Venice so we were in the crossfires for a bit. When we got back, I had to continue my job as a detective in Kingston."

Her mother paced back and forth. "I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are travelling with this alien."

"Don't worry, mom. It has been a few months since I last saw him. I don't think he is coming back."

"What if he does? You can get hurt."

"I wouldn't turn down the opportunity to travel. I love going on adventures even though it may be dangerous. Have a good sleep. I'll be out for a bit. Love you!"

"Love you too! See you this evening!"

Nicole headed out the door and walked down the street towards a school. From a distance, a familiar blue police box filled her vision. "It can't be!" With a surge of excitement, she dashed towards the TARDIS. The door swung open and the Doctor's head popped out. It was the Tenth Doctor from her first two adventures. "It's you!" she said in a surprised but happy tone.

The Doctor leaned back against the door with his arms crossed. "Who else would you expect to see? Don't tell me if you have seen my future self. I don't want any spoilers." Nicole smiled and kept silent. The Doctor grinned and with eyes sparkling he exclaimed, "Come right in! Just put your jacket over the coat hook."

"I have missed this place," Nicole stated while looking at the coral themed interior of the TARDIS.

"It has been a long time since our adventure in Paraiso, but I am making good on my promise. Anywhere in time and space. Your choice. That is if you still want to come."

"Definitely! If you are still offering."

The Doctor ran up to the control console. "With anywhere and anytime to choose from, what will it be?"

Nicole ran her hands along the railing as she headed towards the control console; her mind brimming with possibilities. "What about Palestine under the rule of the Roman Empire in AD 28-33? I always wanted to visit the time when Jesus came to Earth."

"Interesting choice. Some people say he was a great teacher, a prophet, a great man, the Messiah, or the Son of God."

"This will be your chance to find out," Nicole said smiling.

"How about 33 AD?"

"Sounds great!" Nicole clutched onto the control console as the Doctor twisted some dials and flicked a switch. A familiar groaning sound filled her ears as the TARDIS left earth replaced by a humming sound as the TARDIS took flight. "Is there a place where I can find clothes to fit the time period?"

The Doctor pointed behind him "Go up the spiral staircase and it will be at the top."

"Thank you. Do you want me to bring anything for you?"

He waved her off. "No thanks. What I'm wearing will be fine."

She looked at the clothes he was wearing and wondered how he would fit in that time period. He was wearing a white shirt with a classic brown pinstripe four-buttoned jacket. Over this suit the Doctor was wearing a billowing tan overcoat. Nicole recognized the overcoat from the night before when she saw a mysterious man disappeared into an alley.

"Doctor, what were you doing at my work last night?"

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "People and events have been disappearing from history. I was checking to see if you haven't disappeared."

"Thanks for your concern. Shouldn't we look at these abnormalities in history instead of going on a trip to Ancient Israel?"

"I need to do some investigation before taking action. We can go for a quick trip since it is a time machine and then we can look at the fissures in time and space."

"Sounds like a plan." Nicole turned around headed up some stairs that was located at the back of the TARDIS. She walked up the spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever. "When does this end?"

She eventually arrived at the top surrounded by clothing from every planet and era imaginable. Nicole caught her breath. "Who decides to put a wardrobe at the top of 75 flights of stairs?"

The TARDIS seemed to chuckle at her question.

"Not funny," she mumbled. "Now to figure out where to find Roman clothing."

A light turned on at the far end which highlighted tunics, armour and robes that were typically found in the era Nicole was searching for. "Thank you, TARDIS." The TARDIS hummed in response. "I should probably think of a nickname for you." Nicole searched through the clothes and found a light blue tunic called a chiton back in Roman times, a simple brown belt to keep the tunic in place, and some wooden clogs to wear on her feet. "Maybe I should ask the Doctor about what he calls you." The TARDIS seemed to shake in laughter.

There was a clatter at the bottom of the stairwell. The Doctor yelled out, "What are you two up to?"

"Just picking out some clothes."

"Yeah right."

Nicole rolled her eyes. She put on the tunic. "You think the Doctor thought we were ganging up on him." She headed down the stairs back to the main control room where the Doctor was busy flying the ship. "Why do you have a huge staircase leading up to the wardrobe?

"The TARDIS was just teasing you. It's only a few flights of stairs."

Nicole sat on a seat by the console. "How big is your TARDIS?"

"You're full of questions today."

"I'm curious."

"It's endless. I still haven't explored everything," stated the Doctor as he looked up from the control console, "Almost didn't recognize you. You will fit in the time period as a… servant. Why would you dress like that?"

"You can learn a lot of things from behind the scenes."

"Good idea."

Suddenly, the TARDIS shuddered and resisted the pull going to 33 AD. "What is going on?" Nicole shouted as she clung to a part of a column. The Doctor hung onto the control console as they were pulled back and forth.

"The TARDIS seems to be fighting a force and is trying to send us back to your time period. Hold on tight, this will be a hectic ride!" exclaimed the Doctor just as the TARDIS spun out of control.

Nicole hung on for dear life while trying to prevent as little whiplash as possible. She looked over to the control console to see what the Doctor was doing. He was staring at the screen which indicated the time and place they were heading to.

"What is it Doctor?" She shouted over the roar of the TARDIS's engines.

"The travel coordinates are going haywire. I can't tell if we are moving forward or backwards in time," stated the Doctor frantically as he tried to stop the TARDIS's flight to no avail.

Suddenly, the TARDIS stopped with a sudden thud. Nicole lurched forward with the impact. "Well, at least the TARDIS has stopped," Nicole said as she got up and brushed herself off. She looked over at the Doctor who was staring in shock down at a panel on the control console.

"What? WHAT? What?" exclaimed the Doctor.

"What is it?" Nicole walked over to him. He pointed to a device that displayed the date and place of where and when they were. She stood beside him and saw a bunch of question marks. "What does this mean?"

The Doctor made a circular motion. "A bunch of timey-wimey stuff."

"You can try and explain it to me."

"We are outside time and space," stated the Doctor with a look of fear on his face.

"But, that's impossible."

"Not necessarily. This has happened to me before. A long, long time ago when I first started out. We must have fallen out of the time vortex," said the Doctor with a faraway look in his eyes.

"How about we look at the scanner and see what is around us? We must have landed somewhere since there was a huge thud."

The Doctor snapped out of his daydream and when he realized what she said broke out into a smile.

"A great idea!" He turned on the scanner, but there was only a black screen. After fiddling with a few more buttons without success, he sighed and said, "Looks like the scanner is not working. Once I figure out what happened to the TARDIS and how to get back into the time vortex, I can get you back home." While the Doctor fiddled with some wires, Nicole glanced over at the doors and wondered what could be out there.

Making up her mind, she said, "Or instead of waiting here, we can see what is beyond these doors. We must have been travelling in space since we landed on something solid. Therefore, we may have been traveling through time as well." She walked over to the doors to go outside.

"NICOLE, NO!" shouted the Doctor just as she turned the handle on the door.


	5. Temporal Paradox

**Hi everyone! Sorry I've been away for awhile. Been busy finishing up a novel and now since that is finished, I can spend more time on writing Doctor Who. Enjoy reading!**

Nicole let go of the handle and turned around to face the Doctor whose eyes showed a hint of fear. Realizing the foolishness of her actions could have cost her life, she lowered my eyes out of guilt while berating herself for the pain she could have caused the Doctor who has lost so many people. "Doctor, I am sorry. I let my excitement overtake my better judgement. I agree we should head back once we figure out how to work the TARDIS." Nicole looked up expecting some harsh reaction.

"That's okay, Nicole. I am sorry for raising my voice, but I was afraid of what was out there. I have been outside of time and space, and there are monsters beyond imaginable I had to fight in the past." As he said this, the TARDIS shut down and everything turned dark except for a red light.

"Uh… Doctor? Red is not a good sign is it?"

"No, the TARDIS lost its power which is not good." The Doctor paced up and down while muttering to himself, "Think, think, think! What could drain the power of the TARDIS?"

"You mentioned there was a force that drew her here. If we can find whoever or whatever is controlling that force, we should be able to stop it."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks and turned around. His face broke into a huge grin and with eyes sparkling he exclaimed, "Oh yes! Fantastic! Brilliant!" while giving Nicole a hug that lifted her feet off the ground as he spun her in a circle. She laughed in delight at the Doctor's behaviour. "This makes more sense! Why didn't I see this before? The abnormalities in time and space must be related to this force. Something or someone is draining all the energy in the time vortex, and as a result history is bleeding through until it runs dry."

"Are you saying that if we don't stop this in time, Earth will be no more?"

The Doctor's face turned into a serious expression as he stated, "Worse. It won't be just the Earth that won't exist, it will be other planets and galaxies as well." As they stood there contemplating the seriousness of the situation, the Doctor went back to his joyous self and exclaimed grinning, "You know what?"

"What?"

"I am curious to discover what is on the other side of the door. Let's go investigate!" He bounded over and grabbed the handle, but before opening the door he asked with bright brown eyes, "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said smiling at him.

The Doctor opened the door and peered outside while Nicole leaned past his shoulder to see what was out there. "It looks like the right time period," Nicole stated with wonder as she took in the sights. In front of her was a city bustling with life. She stepped out of the TARDIS and walked a few feet until she came out into an opening on a street. There were people and Roman soldiers milling about in what appeared to be a market place with stalls, restaurants, and inns. She looked back at the Doctor who was coming up behind me. "I can't believe we are here in the midst of the Roman Empire! Thank you for bringing me here!" She gave him a hug. "Let's explore and find out what city we are in and the time period." her grin faded when she noticed the dark serious expression on the Doctor's face. "Trouble?"

The Doctor's face turned into a manic grin. "Oh yes!" However, his expression turned into a look of concern when he looked at her. "But do you know what the question of the hour is?"

"Who is causing the trouble?"

"Nope. The question is why can't you see what I am seeing?"

"Tell me what do you see, Doctor?"

"When I look around this city, the architecture and some people remind me of Palestine during the Roman times. However, I see Nazi soldiers where you see Roman soldiers."

"Who are the Nazis?" Nicole questioned in a confused tone.

With a concerned expression, the Doctor took both of her hands."Someone has been messing with the timeline and has established perception filters so people will not notice."

"What are you talking about?"

The Doctor waved a hand in the air. "A perception filter can have an effect on you by not letting you see what is in front of you. For example, in this case, you notice Roman soldiers when they are Nazis. Since you have no collection who the Nazis are, it leads me to conclude that someone has put the Nazis in the wrong time period. Whoever this person is, they have placed perception filters on people's minds to cloud their view on what has happened in history."

"Are you saying someone has been playing with our minds so we forget major historical events that should have happened but didn't?"

"Yes, it will be one huge temporal paradox if we don't fix it in time."

"Having the Nazis rule the Roman Empire creates a time paradox since they are not in the right time period." At the Doctor's affirmative nod she continued, "To help you on this adventure, is it possible to get rid of the perception filter in my mind?"

"I can, but I would have to go through your mind using telepathy to find the perception filter."

"Okay," she said with a hint of fear in her voice.

The Doctor said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry. It won't hurt a bit. If there is anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door blocking that area into your mind."

The Doctor put his hands on either side of her head. It felt weird having another person inside her mind going through her memories as if he was invading her personal space. Nicole's mind somehow focused on her time in high school when she was in history class. A memory reappeared out of the dark recesses of her mind so she assumed whatever the Doctor was doing was working. The memory was of her grade 10 history teacher teaching WWII and the camps the Nazis established for the Jews and any outsiders who did not follow their ways. Nicole opened my eyes in astonishment and exclaimed to the Doctor, "How could I have forgotten that?"

"Whoever has changed the course of history affected how you viewed your past and future."

"I can remember a history with WWII and a history without one. How is that possible with remembering two streams of history?"

The Doctor smiled and said, "Wibbley Wobbly. Timey Wimey stuff."

She gave a small smile. "We should acquaint ourselves with the city."

"Yes, lets!" smiled the Doctor as they walked up the alley towards a street. Nicole stopped in her tracks and looked around the street with fresh eyes as she took in the horror before her.


	6. The Stand

The streets were the same as before but the only difference was the line of swastika flags hanging on the side of buildings on both sides of the street. However, instead of the city bustling with life, the people stood looking towards the end of the street appearing grim and solemn. The Doctor and Nicole looked down the street to see what was striking fear into the people. A platoon of about thirty Nazi soldiers marched down the road with a commander leading them. "Make way for the Fuhrer!" The sea of the crowd departed and for those who could not move to the side in time, they were pushed aside. An older woman who wore a simple brown tunic and a wool-like shawl was hobbling on a cane down the middle of the street facing away from the Nazis when a soldier pushed her down.

Seeing the brutality the soldiers were displaying, Nicole turned to the Doctor. "I need to see if she is okay."

The Doctor attempted to grab her hand. "Wait until the army passes." However, it was too late as she darted down the street towards the older woman. Nicole rushed in front of the commander and startled his horse who gave a whinny of fright. It reared on its hind legs dumping the commander to the ground. She reached the woman who was sitting on the ground grimacing with pain.

"Are you okay?" Nicole asked the woman with concern looking into her hazelnut eyes. She signaled to me that she couldn't hear. Realizing she was deaf, Nicole gave her a kind smile and extended her hand towards her. She smiled back as Nicole pulled her up. However, her grateful expression turned into fear as she looked beyond Nicole's shoulder. Footsteps came closer until it stopped right behind her. Nicole turned around to see who it was. A Nazi soldier dressed in all brown with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes stood in front of me glaring.

He exclaimed, "Come with me!"

_ "What did I get myself into this time?"_ The guard threw her on the ground in front of the commander.

"So, this is the one responsible for my fall," hissed the commander. Nicole got up from the ground and brushed herself off. "An injury to an officer of the army deserves death by mass shooting."

"At least it would be a quick death compared to the Romans' way of doing things," she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?"

Thinking it was about time for someone to stand up to Hitler and his Nazis, Nicole exclaimed to the commander with a slight tremble in her voice, "Can't you see what you are doing is wrong or has Hitler brainwashed you to the point where you can't tell the difference between what is right and wrong? You are hurting innocent people!" She was about to continue on when the Doctor took her hand and pulled her behind him.

He whispered, "That's enough, Nicole." He fixed his gaze onto the commander. The fury of the Time Lord simmered in his eyes.

"What is your name, man?"

"Dr. John Smith."

"Can I see your credentials?" questioned an authoritative voice from the army of soldiers. Some soldiers stepped aside as a man in his forties rode out on a chestnut horse. He had short black hair combed to his left-hand side and a rectangular mustache. He was wearing a white shirt with a brown tie, jacket and pants. Nicole recognized him as Adolf Hitler. The Doctor put his hand inside his trench coat and pulled out his psychic paper.

"Here you can see I received the highest education from Hippocrates himself. Nicole is my assistant who helps me by keeping my practice clean."

Hitler nodded and regarded him with dark beady eyes. "You should teach your house slave her place. Women should be seen and not heard unless when given permission to speak. Although, considering your form of dress and the way your assistant acts, you are not from this area. In fact, you are not from this time period."

"Very observant of you, Fuhrer," replied the Doctor. As the Doctor was saying this, he lowered his right hand with the psychic paper towards his coat pocket then gives Nicole the psychic paper. She glanced at the Doctor and he directed his eyes to her hand that was clutching his psychic paper before redirecting his eyes back to the Fuhrer. While the Doctor was fumbling for an answer to explain their presence, Nicole turned away from them. She flipped open the psychic paper and saw the Doctor's words appearing then vanishing. Every ten seconds, the words would re-appear again. The words on the psychic paper were "Run when it is time. Find out what is going on in the city."

"_Why does it sound like the Doctor is not coming with me?"_

She turned back towards the conversation between the Doctor and Hitler just in time to hear Hitler ordered his men, "Seize them!" while the Doctor yelled, "Run!" Without even thinking, Nicole sprinted away from the guards. She glanced behind her and saw a guard hit the Doctor's head with a musket causing him to collapse to the ground. With a few tears streaming down her face, Nicole forced herself to keep running while the commander ordered the rest of the guards to give chase.


	7. The Chase

With adrenaline coursing through my veins, Nicole darted through the streets. The hooves pounded on the dirt behind her, and when she glanced back, four men on horseback galloped towards her. Nicole took a sharp turn into an alleyway hoping to find a place to hide. At the end of the alley, a window caught her attention but was was too high.

She called out, "Someone, please help me!" Hearing no response, Nicole looked around to find another place to hide.

Hearing a shout, "She went this way," Nicole decided to give myself up. Nicole slumped her shoulders in defeat and walked out of the alleyway. Before she walked onto the street, a hand clamped over her mouth and dragged her back into the alley.

Nicole struggled against the figure trying to escape when a gruff voice whispered, "Be quiet, woman! We are here to help you!" She nodded, and he released his hand. "Follow me."

Nicole followed him back into the alleyway and noticed an opening in the wall that wasn't there before. They ducked through the opening and a few men pushed the rock back in its place just as some Nazis entered the alley. Everyone stood still like statues while the Nazis walked about.

A voice called out, "There is nobody here, Captain."

The captain replied, "We will search the houses. We will not leave any stone unturned until we find her."

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief as they heard them leave the alleyway. She stood in the dark room and stared at the large rock as thoughts barraged her mind like a runaway train. _Hope the Doctor is alright. How does he expect me to find out what is going on here?" _

"Are you okay, miss? The back of your head is bleeding."

Nicole snapped herself out of her thoughts and turned to the man who rescued her earlier. He was wearing a woolen shirt underneath a beige tunic that reached to his knees, a leather girdle around his waist and leather sandals. He had dark brown eyes and hair and a black moustache and beard. Nicole touched the back of her head, and in the flickering torchlight, blood her fingertips. "I am okay. Must have hurt it earlier. Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome. Luke, our physician, can look at your wound when we reach our people. My name is John, and these are my friends: Peter, Mark, and Thomas. What is your name?"

"My name is Nicole. I am Dr. Smith's assistant," she stated while showing them the psychic paper. "He is also a good friend of mine and I need to get him back."

"You will, but first let's get you something to eat." They walked down a set of stairs that led into a tunnel.

"Where are we?"

John replied, "We are underneath the city of Jerusalem, and these tunnels lead us to where our temple used to be."

"What are you talking about? The temple should still be standing." _The temple is destroyed in AD 70 when the Romans burned it to the ground._

"You are not from around here, are you?" questioned Mark.

"No, I travelled a far way to come here, and there is no way for me to go back home without the Doctor. What happened to the temple?"

"When Hitler came with his men and his advisor, Dominus Furioso, we thought they were the ones who would save us from the rule of Caesar Augustus. We helped them in the fight against the Romans, but the Germans turned against us. They burned down our temple and forbid us to practice our faith. If we do, we are sentenced to death. That is why we meet underground so we can still practice our faith. Ah, here we are. Welcome to our gathering.

When they entered the room, John announced, "Everyone, we have a guest for tonight. Her name is Nicole."

"Hello!" Nicole smiled despite the fact that her insides quaked.

"Martha and Mary! Can you take care of the wound on Nicole's head until Luke gets here?"

"Yes, John. Come along, Nicole. You can tell us about your journey."

Nicole followed the two women into another room where there were a few other women preparing a meal. She sat down on a matted brown rug while Mary went to grab a bowl of water and a piece of cloth.

"Where are you from?" questioned Martha as she was making food over a fire.

"The other side of the world. My friend, Dr. John Smith, and I were travelling and ended up in Jerusalem. I saw an older lady being hurt by the German soldiers and tried to help her, but spooked the commander's horse. That is why I am on the run from the Germans and how my friend got captured."

A deep voice boomed throughout the room. "The woman you helped is my grandmother. I'm Luke, and you must be Nicole. John said you hurt yourself earlier."

"Just a bump to the head. Nothing serious."

Luke inspected Nicole's wound. "Well, it looks like a tiny cut. Welcome to our family!"

Nicole nodded in appreciation not sure how to deal with all of this hospitality.

"Supper's ready!" exclaimed Martha.

"Come with me," said Mary.

"Shouldn't we go help Martha?"

"You are our guest. Come and sit down. Martha will join us in a few minutes."

While Martha and two other women were serving the men, Nicole followed Mary's actions and laid on her left side eating bread, cooked grains, and legumes. "How did Hitler and his men arrived here in Jerusalem?"

Mary replied, "There's an impossible hole about ten kilometres outside of Jerusalem in the Judean desert."

Nicole sat up and leaned forward with interest. "How is the hole impossible?"

"It is very difficult to describe. No one has ever seen anything like it. It is like a doorway in the air and sometimes it appears in the sand. No one goes near it in fear of being drawn in. We have lost a few people to it."

"Sorry to hear that. It sounds like there is a tear in the fabric of time and space."

The women stared at Nicole as if she lost her mind. Martha spoke up, "You speak perfect Aramaic, my dear, but your words are foreign to us."

"I know, but I have a friend who can help us. The Germans caught him, so I can find out what is going on here. I need to find a way to rescue him. Then he can figure out how to close the portal."

Martha leaned forward. "Your friend is in prison. You can come with me to the palace tomorrow to help clean rooms and serve food. We serve food to the prisoners so that would provide you an opportunity to help him escape."

"Fantastic! I would need a disguise since the Germans will recognize me in an instant."

Mary chimed in. "That's easy! We would make you as one of us, and once you rescue your friend, head 10 kilometres south of Jerusalem."

"Thank you," Nicole said.

The women got up and collected the plates. Mary helped Nicole up to her feet. "It's time we turn in for the night. We have an early morning tomorrow to teach you how to be one of us."


	8. Identity Unraveled

**A Few Hours Earlier**

As the German soldiers chased Nicole, four soldiers stayed behind with Hitler.

Hitler rounded up the soldiers."Put Smith on the chariot. When he wakes up, Dominus Furioso would love to interrogate him of how he and his assistant came here."

They knelt down, one by Smith's head and the other by his feet. The one soldier hooked his arm under Smith's armpits while the other lifted his feet. They carried Smith and threw him with ease into the chariot. One of the soldiers climbed into the chariot and flicked the reins. The horses trotted towards the palace. Hitler and his three soldiers rode behind on their horses. They navigated the streets until they came to the palace. The palace was a big fortress with stone walls and towers within. A few footmen came up to the horses and held on to the bridle as Hitler and his soldiers dismounted.

Hitler gestured to the horses."Take the horses back to the stables and bring Smith into the interrogation room. Do whatever it takes to wake him up."

The soldiers carried him into one of the outer buildings in the courtyard. They laid Smith's body on the ground in the dank, dark interrogation room that was lit by a couple of fire torches on the wall.

A lieutenant ordered a soldier, "Empty the man's pockets. See if he has anything valuable."

The two soldiers propped Smith up so the other soldier could take Smith's coat off. The soldier shook the coat upside down and various items came out. These included a Yo-Yo, a toy mouse, a banana, and a small metallic cylinder with a blue tip at the end.

"What an interesting device," stated the lieutenant in wonder as he picked up the metallic cylinder, "He must have come from somewhere in the future to have technology this advanced. Let's wake him up so he can tell us what this is."

A soldier went to the far corner in the room to fetch a bucket of water and threw it over Smith's face. "Wake up!"

The rest of the soldiers kicked Smith's body. They didn't see any signs of life, not even the rising and lowering of his chest to signify he was breathing.

The lieutenant ordered his men. "Check to see if he is still breathing."

A soldier knelt down and checked for a pulse against Smith's neck. Then, the soldier lowered his head to hear for any breath sounds. "Lieutenant, there is no pulse or any sign of breath in him. What do we tell the Fuhrer? Dominus will kill me for what I did to Dr. Smith."

"You would have to pay the price. I can hear Dominus and the Fuhrer coming in right now. Attention!"

The soldiers stood as straight and stiff as a board with their right hands in a saluting position on their foreheads.

When the Fuhrer entered the room followed by Dominus, the soldiers spoke in unison, "Heil Hitler!"

"At ease!" The men lowered their hands.

Dominus clasped his hands together. "Who is this man you have captured, Lieutenant?"

"A man named Dr. John Smith who is not from this time period. He came with an assistant named Nicole who has escaped. My men are ransacking each house to find her."

Furioso's eyes sparked at the names."I know these two. Show me the Doctor."

"Dominus, I want to warn you that one of my soldiers knocked him very hard in the head. I'm sorry to tell you that the Doctor is dead."

"Let me see!" demanded Dominus Furioso.

He pushed past the guards and took in the still state of the Doctor. Dominus smiled in relief. He put on a face devoid of emotion and stated in a clipped tone, "He's not dead. Alert me when he is awake."

"What are you talking about? He's not breathing and does not have a pulse."

Dominus turned around to face the lieutenant and spoke in a condescending tone, "He's like me, you idiot! Our biology differs from humans. We, Time Lords can go into a state that appears like death in order to repair and heal. He'll wake up when he is ready. Put him in the cell over there and alert me when he wakes up. There are a few things I need to discuss with him."

Dominus turned back towards the door, but stopped when he spotted the Doctor's coat on the floor with a few of his things scattered about. Dominus walked over to pick up the Doctor's screwdriver and marched out of the room.

"Do as he says!" ordered the Fuhrer. The Fuhrer walked out of the room while the soldiers murmured among themselves in disbelief as they looked at the Doctor with wide eyes.


	9. Infiltration

Nicole tossed and turned. She jerked awake when someone shook her shoulder. "Wake up, Nicole. You are having a bad dream."

Nicole sat up and took a few deep breaths. She glanced up at Mary. "I haven't been sleeping well these past few nights. What time is it?"

"Four in the morning."

She groaned, "That's too early."

"Well, you need to be at the palace at six. We have a lot of work to do to prepare you. Maybe Dr. Smith can provide you something to help you sleep."

Nicole stretched. "I doubt it and I don't want to worry him. Where do we begin?"

Mary clapped her hands once in excitement and exclaimed, "First, we'll provide you a new set of attire that servants wear at the palace. Let's see what you look like." She handed me a beige tunic.

A few minutes later, Nicole stepped out with a tunic that extended to my feet. She handed Mary a long piece of cloth.

"I'm not sure what to do with this piece of cloth."

"We'll help you with the veil after we do your hair."

Afterwards, Mary and Martha nodded their heads in satisfaction. "Now you look like one of us. Martha will go over the rules on how we present ourselves in society."

Martha stepped forward. "The main point to remember is to keep your eyes lowered when men are speaking to you. If you look into their eyes, it will undermine their authority and position. One last point before we go is to always remain in the background. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"You don't have to worry about that, Martha. Being in the background is where I feel the most comfortable."

"You are all set. Let's go. All that's left is for you to pick a name. We don't want the guards to catch you."

After about thirty minutes of walking, we arrived at the palace and entered through the back door into the kitchen. The kitchen was chaotic as the servants chattered to each other while they prepared plates. An older lady in her fifties provided directions on how to cook food to a girl who was about sixteen years old.

The older lady turned and smiled at Martha. "Hello Martha! I see you brought someone new. The Fuhrer has been searching for hired help. What is your name, dear?"

Nicole stepped forward. "Skye. Skye McAdams."

"Nice to meet you, Skye. I am Abigail, daughter of Ezra. Martha will show you the ropes for today. Martha, did you hear about the new prisoner the Germans captured yesterday? People are saying he is not from this world. The soldiers thought he was dead when they brought him here."

Nicole's heart pumped rapidly at the possibility of the Doctor's death.

Abigail continued on, "Due to his biological structure, it is normal for him to appear dead if he suffers harm. The Fuhrer is giving out a reward for whoever finds the young woman who was with Dr. Smith before she escaped."

Martha smiled. "What an interesting story. Well, I better show Skye how we do things around here. First, we are going to take food down to the prisoners."

Martha strode to a table by the door to gather plates of dry bread with butter. Nicole stepped towards Martha, but Abigail stopped her. "This goes to Dr. Smith in the interrogation room just in case he wakes up this morning. Martha will show you where on her way to the dungeon."

Martha and I walked through the kitchen out into the hallway. At the end of the hallway, we went through a set of doors that led outside into a courtyard. "He's right in here. When you are done, I'll meet you back in the kitchen."

"Okay. Thank you."

Nicole knocked on the door and a German soldier answered. "Food for the Doctor."

He gestured for me to come in. He stepped out and closed the door behind him. Ahead, there was the Doctor who laid on the floor inside the cell. No movement whatsoever. _Was he dead? _Nicole shook her head. _He's still alive. Just looks like he's dead. _

Nicole ambled over to the cell and a small opening caught her attention. She knelt down and slid the plate through the opening.

She gripped the bars. "Doctor, I hope you're okay. I'm going to get you out of here. I don't know if you can hear me, but I found out what is going on here. There is a rip in the fabric of time and space somewhere in the Judean wilderness. Don't know much about this stuff or even know how to close the gap. Please wake up."

The door creaked open and Nicole stood up and brushed herself off. She turned to face the door and missed a twitch of the Doctor's hand.

The German soldier sauntered in with a plate of food. "What are you still doing here? All you have to do is deliver the food and leave."

Nicole nodded and hurried out of the room.

Out in the courtyard, Nicole spotted Martha heading towards the kitchen.

She jogged after her. "Martha, wait up."

Martha turned around and smiled. "I see you are back in one piece. Next, we clean the bedrooms in this palace. It's simple. We change the sheets, make the beds, and clean the floor of anything you find."

"Sounds easy."

Martha continued on with a tranquil dreamlike quality in her voice, "You'll clean Dominus Furioso's room so if you run across him, he's a lot nicer than the Fuhrer. There is just something about his voice. He makes you feel important when he talks to you." Martha sat down at a table

Nicole glanced down at Martha's hand that tapped a four beat rhythm. "Martha." She continued tapping. "Martha!" Nicole exclaimed and snapped her fingers in front of her face.

Her face broke out of the dreamlike state and she turned towards Nicole. "What is it?"

"It seemed like you were hypnotized for a couple of minutes. Dominus Furioso sounds like an interesting character if he has people acting this way about him. Where are the clean sheets located?"

"Down the end of the hallway towards your right and his room is located up the stairs the first one on the left."

"Okay, thank you." "Before you go, touch nothing on his table. Those are his valuables and will kill anyone who touches them."

"Thank you for the warning." Nicole grabbed the basket and headed up the stairs. Nicole muttered, "What kind of person is Dominus Furioso?"

Nicole marched up the spiral staircase and entered the first room on the left. The top frame of the bed was up against the wall in the center of the room. On the far side, curtains were drawn back to let in the sunlight. Underneath the window was a table filled with a variety of strange items. Nicole cast a furtive glance at the table and concentrated on the task at hand. She put new sheets on the bed and picked up the clothes hung over a chair by the table. As she placed the clothes her basket, a blue tipped metallic device caught her attention.

_The Doctor's sonic screwdriver. I w__onder what this is doing here. Should give this back to the Doctor when I see him next._"

Nicole picked up the sonic screwdriver and tucked it in the laundry basket. Something gold glinted out of the corner of her eye. It was a gold pocket watch with what looked like strange markings on it. She picked up the watch.

"Interesting." Nicole glanced down and gasped at a picture that was under the watch. She set the watch aside. She stared at a picture of herself leaving the Kingston police headquarters.

"What in the world is this?" Nicole stared wide-eyed at the photo and her hands shook. She placed everything back. She stared out the window above the table and watched the people mill about the city.

Nicole shuddered. _This is creepy. Somehow, this person knows me. A time traveller of some kind if he took a recent photo of me in another era. _

"What are you doing at my table?" demanded Dominus Furioso.

Fear coursed through her veins. Nicole stood stock-still. _"Of course. It's the Master. An interesting alias he has chosen. I hope he does not recognize me_." She turned around with eyes lowered. She disguised her voice. "I'm sorry, sir. I was admiring the view outside."

"Time is going to waste with you daydreaming. Get back to work!"

"Yes sir."

Nicole stepped to the door when a German soldier rushed in and announced, "Dominus, Dr. Smith is awake."

"Finally! Bring him to the throne room."

Nicole hid her smile as she left the room, but stopped in her tracks when Dominus cried out, "Girl, wait!"

Nicole turned around with her insides quaking with fear praying that he did not discover who she was. "What is your name?"

"Skye McAdams."

"I had a childhood friend by that name."

"What happened to her if you don't mind me asking?"

"We became enemies. Get lunch prepared for Dr. Smith and I."

"Yes sir." Nicole sighed with relief and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen.


	10. The Secret

"What are you smiling about?" questioned Martha as Nicole entered the kitchen.

"The Doctor's alive!"

"Shush! You don't want people to find out who you are," whispered Martha.

"Right."

Martha beckoned to the doors. "Please, set the table."

Nicole left the kitchen with two other servants with tablecloths and what was considered fine dishware in this century whenever that was. Dominus Furioso sat in a chair reading a scroll. He glanced up and gave Nicole a smile. She averted her eyes and returned to the task at hand. A shiver went up my spine. He knew something that she didn't and the look in his eyes was of a predator stalking his prey.

As Nicole was setting up the table, a set of doors opened behind her. She turned around. A couple of German soldiers strode in with the Doctor in between them. Nicole spun back to the table to finish her task.

"Dr. Smith! Welcome to my humble abode!" exclaimed Dominus Furioso with a flourished bow.

A look of recognition flashed in the Doctor's eyes as he took in Dominus' appearance. "Clever! Brilliant in how you disguised your name. The Furious Master."

The Master clasped his hands. "Oh, how I love it when people say my name. You must get off on it when people say your name as well."

"Why the word Furious?"

"It has a nice ring to it. The Furious Master," he stated while moving his hands in an arch.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You were always the dramatic one."

"Really? I always thought you were such a drama queen; always making grand entrances and having temper tantrums when things don't go your way."

The Doctor moved on from the conversation. "You're a long way from home."

Nicole stopped what she was doing. _I always wondered why the Doctor was not surprised when he met him on Paraiso._

"Yes I am, which reminds me I need to talk to you about something." The Master turned to the servants and ordered, "Everyone out! I will let you know when to serve dinner."

Nicole returned to the kitchen with the other servants, but stayed at the door to listen to the conversation between the Doctor and the Master.

"Come and sit down," beckoned the Master as he indicated to a couple of chairs by a bookshelf. "Guards, you can leave us."

The guards bowed and walked out of the room.

"Love this new regeneration of yours, Doctor. Better than the last regeneration I saw you in. The one with the crazy hair."

"That was a long time ago. Looking at yourself, you must be when?"

"The start of the Time War. Tragic, isn't it?"

"Seems like eons ago."

"Ah. This already happened to you. Your traveling companion mentioned something about being the last of your kind when we last met. It was only you who survived?"

The Doctor replied in a steel tone, "Yes, both Timelords and Daleks were wiped out. I was the only one who got out alive."

"Fascinating!" The Master jumped up from his chair. "I'm hungry. Let's eat! You must be starving." The Master called to the servants in the kitchen, "Time to serve dinner!" The Master turned back to the Doctor and said, "There is an urgent matter I must speak to you about; a concern I have for you."

The Doctor smirked. "You concerned about my welfare with no alternative means? That will be the day."

The Master and the Doctor sat at opposite ends of the table. Nicole turned at a tap on her shoulder.

Martha held out a pitcher of water. "Go and pour water in their glasses." Nicole took the pitcher of water and walked into the room.

The Master leaned forward. "We need to talk about our friend, Nicole"

"What about? Have you captured her?" questioned the Doctor as Nicole poured water into the Master's cup. "No, the guards are still scouring the city for her."

The Doctor gave a sigh of relief and thanked Nicole as she poured water into his cup without giving her a glance. She nodded her head in acknowledgement. The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the Master.

_Probably wondering what the Master is up to_, Nicole thought when she returned to the kitchen.

Abigail gestured to her. "Just stand outside the kitchen doors, Skye. We'll hand you the food to put on the table."

"Okay." Nicole stood by the door in the shadows and listened with peaked interest to the conversation between the Doctor and the Master.

"What do you want to discuss in terms of Nicole?"

"How could she be here when she is back on Gallifrey?"

Nicole stiffened at the question. The Doctor brushed away the Master's question. "It was just someone who looked like her, and our friend back on Gallifrey was Skye McAdams."

However, there was a sliver of doubt in his eyes as the Master continued on with a smirk on his face. "Really, Doctor? By the dreams she told us, it is her. You are in a state of denial. You shouldn't be playing with human lives." The Master sneered. "Look at what happened to your previous travelling companions. You should never have brought her on board the TARDIS. Did you even think that by having her travel with you, you would cause her destruction? You are dividing up her world and yours. SAY SOMETHING!" yelled the Master.

The Doctor lowered his eyes and then stared at the wall. "I wouldn't take her at first. I was walking to my TARDIS to leave after saving her when she stopped me. How could I resist the way she looked at the TARDIS? It reminded me the reason I have people on board to explore the wonders of the universe." He turned his gaze upon the Master. "I know that she is the same person we knew on Gallifrey. I don't know how that is possible, which is why I'm taking her home for good after this trip."

Fear coursed through Nicole's veins and she took a step back. Her hands trembled and her eyes darted to the door that led outside.

"Serve this to Dominus Furioso," whispered Martha.

Nicole took a deep breath and composed her. There was a stifling silence in the room as Nicole set the plate in front of the Master. Nicole took the Doctor's from Martha's hands and turned around. She stood stock still at the Master's question.

"How do you think Nicole is going to handle the news?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair and said, "I don't know. I hope she understands."

_I can't handle this anymore. We need to get out of here. _The image of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver came to mind. She slipped her hand inside her pocket and took out the sonic screwdriver. She placed it on the Doctor's plate and walked over to the Doctor.

The Master asked, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

She's not here."

"Really, Doctor?" The Master turned to Nicole where she stood by the Doctor with a plate of food. "Wonderful food, isn't it Miss _McAdams_?"

Nicole straightened her shoulders and stared at him. "Just what the Doctor ordered." She placed the food on the table.

The Doctor glanced down and his eyes widened at the sight of his sonic screwdriver and a note which read "_Wait for my cue."_

"You are funny Skye McAdams or should I say Nicole? By the way, how did you come up with McAdams?"

"Doctor, now!"

The sound of the sonic screwdriver pierced the air. The plate of food flew towards the Master and hit him in the face.

The Doctor pushed Nicole to the exit. "Run!"


	11. Time Fissure

Nicole sprinted towards the courtyard with the Doctor right behind her. They approached a stable hand who was tying two horses to a chariot. The Doctor flashed his psychic paper to the stable hand.

"Need to take this for a test run."

Nicole jumped onto the chariot and grabbed the reins. "We need to go ten kilometres south of Jerusalem in the Judean wilderness." She flicked the reins and they trotted out the courtyard. Nicole darted her eyes around the streets."I don't even know where south is. Doctor, you take the reins."

The Doctor grinned with excitement. "Allons-y!" exclaimed the Doctor as he snapped the reins.

Nicole clutched onto the sides of the chariot as the horses leapt into a full gallop. The Doctor tilted his head back and laughed. Nicole couldn't help joining in as they raced through the streets of Jerusalem and out a gate. The Doctor pulled back on the reins and the horses slowed to a canter.

Nicole shielded her eyes and pointed. "Doctor, I see something up ahead."

They drew closer and the wind picked up force blowing sand all around them. In front of them was a black tear in the fabrics of time and space in the shape of a door. Beside this door was a large grey boulder.

"Woah!" exclaimed the Doctor as he pulled back on the reins. The horses skittered to a stop and snorted. The Doctor stepped down from the chariot and extended his hand towards me.

"Why thank you kind sir!" Nicole curtsied and smiled she took his hand and stepped down from the chariot.

He gave her a sad smile.

"What's wrong?" Nicole questioned with concern.

"Nicole… about earlier today."

"It's okay Doctor. We can talk about this later. Right now we need to focus on fixing history. My future can wait."

The Doctor grinned and gave her a hug. "You're right. Let's put history back in its place."

The Doctor glanced at the black fissure. "It takes a lot of energy to open that portal. The only energy to open this portal is vortex energy which is found in the TARDIS. That explains why the TARDIS is dead. Someone is using her energy to keep this portal opened."

A strong gust of wind tore through the desert. Nicole placed her hands on the grey boulder to steady herself. A warm, tingling sensation played on her fingers. She knocked on the boulder and it was hollow. She turned to the Doctor who stood and stared at the fissure with his spectacles on.

"Doctor!" He turned around. "The boulder is humming like it's alive."

The Doctor grinned and jogged towards her. "Great job on finding the Master's TARDIS!" He placed his hands on the boulder and searched for the opening. "Aha!" His hand clicked something and the boulder face opened. He turned to Nicole. "Be on the lookout and give me a holler if you see anybody coming our way. I'm going to find a way to revert the portal."

"Okay, Doctor. Good luck!" The Doctor bounded inside the boulder and Nicole scanned the horizons for any signs of life.

A few minutes later, figures in the distance charged towards them. Nicole poked her head inside the boulder where the Doctor was underneath the console fiddling with some wires. "A whole army is coming straight for us. We have little time."

"Almost finished. Just re-wired the Tardis so the Master will stay in his own timeline and not interact with what he sees as my future self again. Now I'll try to fix the fissure." The Doctor scurried around the TARDIS.

Nicole checked the desert and her eyes widened at the approaching army. "They're making a lot of ground, Doctor."

"Oi! Be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate." Nicole sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let me know if you see the fissure disappearing."

"Okay."

Gusts of wind came blowing out of the fissure and the doorway widened. The Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS. "Did it work?"

"No, it only made it bigger."

"Drat. That makes little sense. The Master's TARDIS is not feeding the fissure energy anymore, and I stopped his TARDIS from draining energy from my TARDIS, so why is it still there?"

"Well, while you are thinking of an answer to solve this problem, I'm going to put my hands up since the army has us surrounded."

The Doctor took in the army and nodded. "Point well taken. Fellows, I'm sure we can come to an understanding."

The commander jumped down from his stallion and strode towards them. "Dr. Smith, you have caused us a lot of trouble since you arrived here yesterday."

The Doctor grinned."Trouble is my middle name."

Nicole glowered at him before stepping forward to address the commander. "Please overlook my friend's lack of seriousness of the situation. He acts like a child sometimes."

"Oi! I'm not a child."

"I didn't say you were. I said you sometimes act like one." Nicole turned her attention back to the commander without seeing the Doctor making a silly face behind her. "I'm sorry for any trouble we caused you and the people living in this city. We are concerned about this major black hole or tear or whatever you want to call it. It's messing with history and we're trying to fix it before it's too late. Which, I'm afraid we are."

The Doctor stepped forward. "No, we are not too late. There is one option left, which is for everyone to step through this doorway to head back to their own time." The army of men looked at each other and laughed. "What's so funny?"

Nicole turned to him. "They're laughing at your idea."

"And, what's wrong with my idea?"

"They think it is absurd."

"Your friend is right, Doctor. You expect us to walk through that doorway-like hole and arrive in our own time?"

"Yes I do."

A voice called out from the crowd. "Don't listen to him. By walking through that doorway, you'll lose your lives forever." The Master trotted forward on a black horse.

The Doctor gestured towards him. "He's the one responsible for bringing you here. He took you away from your family and loved ones or did you forget about them? What about the lives you had before he dragged you here? If you want that life back all you have to do is step through that portal and think of your life back at home. Life will resume right where you left off before you came here. What do you think? You don't need to take directions from Dominus Furioso or Hitler on how to live your lives."

A few of the men sniffled and the commander cleared his throat, "How could I have forgotten I have a wife and children back home?"

The Doctor put his arm around the commander's shoulder, "That's okay. It's not your fault for forgetting. The Master has the ability to put people under a spell to do his will. That's why everyone has forgotten their lives back home."

All the men turned towards the Master with angry expressions on their faces. The commander walked towards the Master and exclaimed, "How dare you manipulate our minds and our lives thinking you could use us as puppets!" The commander faced his army of men and exclaimed, "We'll take back what's ours! Enough of this trickery! We'll see our family and loved ones again!" The army cheered as the commander shook the Doctor's hand and my hand. "Thank you so much Doctor and Miss Hughes."

"You're welcome!" smiled the Doctor.

"Why are you listening to him? I helped you conquer a kingdom and gave everyone here power."

The commander turned towards the Master, "We don't want to see you again. Go, or our men will kill you." The Master glanced at the army of men and cowered at their weapons and powerful stances. He fled inside his TARDIS. The commander spoke to a couple of soldiers, "Bring the Fuhrer from Jerusalem and any other soldiers. We're going home." The soldiers nodded and galloped towards the city. The commander turned to the rest of his men and exclaimed, "Everyone line up in a single file! We'll go through one at a time." The Doctor stood by the commander and reminded the men to remember the last thing they did before coming here as they went through the portal.

While the men were being sent back home, Nicole ambled to a saddled horse that was a few feet away from the boulder. She stroked the horse's mane. "Haven't been riding in such a long time." She put her foot in a stirrup and as she was about to pull herself up, someone jerked her away from the horse. "Hey! Get off me!"

"You are coming with me, Nicole," whispered the Master as he wrung her arms behind her back.

"Ow!" Nicole cried when something snapped. Flashes of pain radiated up and down my arm.


	12. I'm Sorry

Hearing the cry the Doctor broke the conversation off with commander and ran towards the boulder. He stood in front of it and reached inside his inner suit pocket. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the Master. "Let Nicole go."

The Master put an arm around Nicole's neck and tightened his grip."No. She's coming with me. All those years the three of us on Gallifrey, I'll make it happen. All those fond memories of us growing up, do you want to erase all of that? Either you let me take her, or I'll kill her on the spot."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and glanced at the commander who stood behind the Master with his rifle cocked at him. He gazed into Nicole's fearful eyes where she attempted to use her arm to claw out of the Master's grip. He darted his eyes between the Master and Nicole and his shoulders slumped forward as if he came to a decision. With shiny, big eyes, the Doctor stepped aside. "Go ahead. I've already lost one companion. I won't not lose another."

The Master pushed Nicole forward. "Thank you, Doctor. You won't regret this."

Nicole dug in her heels. "No! Let me go!" The Master grasped her broken arm and she hissed in pain. With watery eyes, she turned to the Doctor. "Why are you doing this?" Nicole questioned in a hoarse voice laced with hurt.

The Doctor averted his eyes. "For your own good." His voice was devoid of emotion.

Nicole glanced between the Master and the Doctor and shouted, "You both can't do this to me! I have a life with family and friends. You cannot strip me of that! You have no right!"

The Doctor stared ahead without glancing at Nicole. She struggled against the Master and her one arm broke loose. She used her arm to push back against the door frame.

"Bring me back!" Nicole yelled. Tears poured down her face.

The Doctor's hearts tore at those words. He turned to the Master. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He glanced back at the commander. "Shoot now!"

A shot rang out, and the bullet hit the Master's leg. "No!" yelled the Master.

He let Nicole go and stumbled to the ground. The Doctor rushed forward and put his arm around Nicole guiding her away from the Master. He glowered at the Master who hobbled back into his TARDIS and took off. Nicole groaned in pain.

He pulled her in for a hug. "I got you. You're safe."

Nicole wrenched away. "Let me go!"

The Doctor chased after her. "I'm sorry I had to do that to you. It was necessary to make the Master believed he had the upper hand."

Nicole whirled around with a tear-streaked face. She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. "How dare you!" She punched him in the shoulder.

Both of them yelled, "Ow!" as Nicole cradled her broken arm while the Doctor rubbed his shoulder.

"I deserved that and I'm sorry for putting you through that emotional turmoil. Tissue?" The Doctor pulled out a piece of tissue from his jacket.

"Thank you. Never do that on purpose again. Give me a warning next time."

The Doctor nodded. "I will. Now, how about we get that arm fixed?" The Doctor took out a long piece of cloth and wrapped it around Nicole's arm forming a sling. "We'll make it good as new when we get back to the TARDIS. Come on."

The Doctor helped Nicole to my feet, and they walked over to the commander who was stood by the black fissure. "Thank you Commander for what you did. I see you are the last one to go through."

"Yes, sir. I'm glad Miss Hughes is back safe and sound."

"Me too."

The commander glanced at the doorway. "Well, I better head back home. Thank you again Dr. Smith and Miss Hughes."

Nicole stepped forward and shook his hand. "We never got your name, Commander."

"It's Commander Smythe, Miss."

"Bye, Commander Smythe! Safe journeys back!"

The commander stepped through the portal and the tear closed in on itself. A wind picked up and ruffled Nicole's hair.

The Doctor yelled, "Get down!"

"What's going on?" Nicole shouted over the howling wind.

"It's time re-writing itself! Soon everything will go back to how it was before this all happened."

"Nobody will remember this?"

"No, only us since we were at the eye of the storm."

"Right, that's because what we experienced was a paradox?"

The Doctor grinned and exclaimed, "Correct! You're learning quickly, Nicole." She smiled back at him before scrunching their eyes shut against the biting sand that whipped around them.


	13. Endings

**Hi everyone! I'll have the epilogue to this story up next week with a sneak peek of what's coming ahead next in the series. Enjoy reading!**

Something sharp prodded against Nicole's backside. Covered from head to foot with sand, she stood and came face to face with a man who had a spear. Nicole brushed herself off and eyed the man. He wore a coarse, white tunic that reached to his knees and sandals made of papyrus reeds. His eyes lined with black kohl.

"Are you from Egypt?"

The man nodded.

Nicole grinned. _I love seeing history come to life. _She scanned her surroundings. "There was a man with me. A man called the Doctor. The sand buried us during the storm. Have you seen him?"

"Don't worry, Miss. Your friend is right this way."

Nicole followed the Egyptian to a herd of camels where the Doctor chatted away with a group of men.

The Doctor turned and grinned, "Nicole! This is Alim, Ptolemy, Khair, and Salatis. They were on their way to Jerusalem and offered us a ride back."

"That's great! I'm looking forward to changing out of these clothes. How do we ride them?"

"Like this," said the Doctor. He pointed to the camel and then to the ground. "Lie down." T

he camel glanced at the Doctor and spat him in the face. Nicole laughed at he Doctor's look of disgust as he wiped the gunk off his face. The men guffawed at the sight.

"The… The camel spat at me!" whined the Doctor.

Nicole wiped tears from her eyes. "Well, at least it's not spit. It's much better than that."

The Doctor glanced at me. "Do I even want to know?"

Nicole grinned. "It's projectile vomit. Since you were in close range that must have hurt since camels can projectile vomit up to 30 feet away."

Everyone laughed again at the Doctor's sick expression. One of the men approached the camel and tapped its knees with a stick. The camel laid down on the ground and the Doctor and Nicole seated themselves on the camel.

Nicole turned to the Doctor. "In all seriousness, are you okay?"

"Besides being covered in sand and vomit, I'm perfectly fine," said the Doctor sarcastically but with a bit of a smile. "Just looking forward to getting back to the TARDIS."

"Same here. Guess what?" Nicole bounced in her seat.

"What?" the Doctor asked and smiled at her enthusiasm. "We are riding a camel! Never got to ride one before. Thank you for this amazing adventure!" She turned back to face the front and didn't notice how the Doctor's grin turned into a sad smile.

About half an hour later, they arrived at the southern gate of Jerusalem. The Doctor and Nicole thanked the Egyptians and went on their way into the city to find the TARDIS. About an hour of searching, they came across the blue box. Nicole ran up to the TARDIS and put her hand against the door. The hum vibrated underneath her touch. She turned to the Doctor. "The TARDIS is alive again."

The Doctor grinned and inserted the key. He opened the doors and walked in taking in the sight of the warm glow coming from the control console and the humming which sounded like the TARDIS was welcoming them back.

"It's good to be back," said the Doctor as he ran up to the control console and put the TARDIS in flight.

"Doctor, where are the showers located?"

"Down that hallway somewhere. The TARDIS keeps rearranging herself. She'll show you where."

Nicole ventured down the hallway and made a few turned when a door ahead of her opened. She peeked in and smiled at what she saw. It was the room she had on the 11th Doctor's TARDIS. She gazed at the Milky Way on the ceiling before seeing a washroom on the other side of her room.

An hour later, Nicole was cleaned up and back in her regular clothes. She cradled her broken arm as she ambled down to the main console room where the Doctor, back in his blue suit and a red tie, stared with a forlorn expression at the screen in front of him. Nicole crept into the room not wanting to disturb the Doctor's thinking.

On the screen, she noticed a picture of Rose. _I shouldn't interrupt him. _

She turned around when the Doctor called out, "It's okay. You can stay."

_He must have amazing hearing._ Nicole stood by the Doctor and stared at the blonde-haired woman. "Is that the companion you lost?"

"Yes. Her name is Rose. She's still alive, but trapped in a parallel universe."

"Tell me about her."

"She was absolutely brilliant! Rose always knew what to say and was brave when she needed to be. She always stood up for what was right."

The Doctor's eye lit up as he continued to talk about her and the adventures they went on. Then, the Doctor went quiet not speaking of how he lost her. His eyes were filled with sorrow. Nicole placed her hand on his shoulder. "She sounds like a wonderful person."

"She was." Nicole dropped her hand when she grimaced in pain. The Doctor broke out of his daze and noticed Nicole's broken arm still in a sling. "We should get your arm fixed. Here I am reminiscing and you must have been in pain this whole time."

"Doctor, it's okay. You are always welcome to talk about Rose if you feel like it."

"Thank you." The Doctor gave a curt nod and bounded out of the room. "The med bay is this way."

They entered the med bay which was a room filled with a variety of equipment and tools that would have made a surgeon proud to have in his hospital.

The Doctor gestured to a bed-like table. "Hop on there. Just have to grab something. Soon your arm will be good as new." The Doctor opened a closet and grabbed a jar that had nothing in it.

"What's in the jar?"

The Doctor walked over, opened the jar, and snapped his fingers. Little yellow dots glowed and raced towards my arm. "They are Nano genes designed to heal humans."

"Cool."

Nicole watched in fascination as the Nano genes worked on her arm. A warm tingling sensation traveled up and down her arm as it healed. A couple of minutes later, the Nano genes went back into the jar and the Doctor returned the jar to the closet.

"Let's see how your arm is doing."

He unraveled the piece of cloth and Nicole gasped. "It's as good as new. Thank you!"

"You're welcome." The Doctor smiled. "Now it's time to talk about what happened the past couple of days. Do you understand why I have to send you back home?"

Nicole's face fell. "Yes, but you prevented the Master from taking me to Gallifrey. Doesn't that mean it's safe again to travel with you?"

"I don't want to take that chance. I don't know how you arrived and I don't want to be responsible if something happens to you."

Nicole sighed. "Okay. I understand."

The Doctor grabbed her hand. "Wait. I have one surprise for you."

"What is it?"

The Doctor dragged her back to the console room "You didn't receive your wish earlier of visiting Jerusalem in ancient times."

The TARDIS made a wheezing noise indicating it was about to land. Nicole's eyes lit up as the Doctor continued, "One last adventure. How about experiencing the birth of Christ?" The Doctor bounded to the doors and thrust them open. "Welcome to Bethlehem!"

They stepped out of the police box and a platoon of Roman soldiers greeted them. "Halt in the name of Caesar! You are under arrest for committing witchcraft."

"Really?" questioned the Doctor as he pushed Nicole back inside. "Goodbye!" exclaimed the Doctor as he closed the doors just as a spear penetrated it. "Way too close," he muttered. Nicole chuckled. "What a way to make a grand entrance." The Doctor set the controls. "How about we travel later on in Jesus' timeline?"

"Sounds great! Although this time you have to dress according to the culture."

"Do I have to?" complained the Doctor. "I so love this suit."

"Please Doctor since it's my last trip."

"Fine," sighed the Doctor.


End file.
